Bill-file



(No Model.)

N. S. BALDWIN & E. S. GOODWIN.

BILL FILE.

IIJ8C9T6FS fliswz g zizaw 1321-57: 6: Gouda/2h RAHAM FHUTOMTND WASHIN GRIND c NELSON S. BALDlVlN AND ERVIN S. GOODWIN, OF SPOKANE, XVASHINGTON.

BILL-FILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,75d, dated April '7, 1896.

Application filed June 11, 1895. Serial No. 552,447 (No model.)

To all 1072,07) it may concern.-

Be it known that we, NELSON S. BALDwLv and ERVIN S. Goonwnv, citizens of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of lVashington, have invented a new and useful Bill-File, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in bill-files, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient form of device adapted to receive and hold letters, bills, or papers of any kind, and by means of which any particular bill or paper may be removed inde pendently of and without detaching the other papers.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appearin the course of the subjoined description.

The invention consists in a bill-file made from a single piece of wire bent in such manner as to form a supporting eye or loop, by means of which it may be attached to a wall or vertical support and having .reverselycurved portions forming a supporting-back for holding the device in position upon the wall, said device also comprising a paperholding loop, a pointed and notched file-stem, and a curved switch having its end recessed and provided with a catch for engaging the pointed notched end of the file-stem.

The invention consists also in certain features and details of construction and arrange ment of parts, as hereinafter particularly described, illustrated in the drawings, and finally embodied in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved bill-fi1e constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 52 is a side elevation of the same in position to receive bills or other papers. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section taken through the interlocking ends of the file-stem and switch-arm.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the bill-file contemplated in this invention is formed from a wire blank or single piece of wire'having the required stifiness and elasticity. At or near its central portion this wire blank is bent in such manner as to form a supporting-back comprising reversely-disposed curved portions 1 and 2, the curves or bends being made of suchextent vertically and horizontally as to form a supportin g-back of any desired area. After forming the supporting-back one terminal is extended downwardly any desired distance, according to the capacity which it is desired to impart to the file, and thence curved gradually forward to form the hook 3, which receives and holds the bills or other papers. This terminal is then extended upwardly to form the file-stem 4, the upper extremity of which is pointed for facilitating the impaling or puncturing of the bills or papers. Slightly below the point of the file-stem a notch 5 is formed, said notch being arranged in the face of the file-stem which lies adjacent to the extremity of the other terminal, hereinafter described. The other terminal, after forming the supportingback of the file, is first bent to form a loop or eye 6, by means of which the device may be supported'upon a convenient nail projecting from the wall, and then curved forwardly and to a slight extent upwardly to form an inclined switch 6, adapted at certain times to receive and hold a portion of the bills or papers,as hereinafter explained. The extremity of this terminal is now bent downwardly into line with the other terminal or file-stem and is provided with a recess or socket 7, adapted to receive and snugly embrace the pointed tapering end of the filestem. This socket in the terminal of the switch is formed with an internally-arranged spur or catch 8, which is adapted to engage the notch in the pointed end of the file-stem when the terminals are brought together, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

By means of the construction hereinabove described it will be apparent that the device may be rendered capable of receiving any number of bills or papers, that the same may be quickly placed thereon, and that when any particular bill or paper is wanted the bills or papers which lie in front of the same may be moved upwardly and passed over the junction between the terminals and upon the switch, after which the file'stem may be disengaged from the terminal of the switch and allowed to spring forward into its normal position, as indicated in Fig. 2, whereupon the desired bill or paper may be removed from the file.

It will be seen that when the terminals are in engagement, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 3, they will be prevented from moving vertically out of engagement, will be held in close engagement by the spring-pressure of the file-stem, and may be disengaged only by pressing the file-stem laterally. in a manner that will be readily understood. The object in inclining the switch-arm as shown is to give the bills or papers a tendency to slide away from the terminal of the switch or toward the wall for preventing the same from escaping or being blown from the terminal of the switch.

It will be apparent that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. A bill-file made from a wire blank, the same being given one or more eonvolutions to form a supporting-back, one of the terminals being bent forward, recurved and then extended substantially parallel to and in advance of the back to form the file-stem, the opposite terminal being extended to one side,

then forwardly to form a lateral switch, the said terminal being finally brought into the proximal plane of the stem and formed to receive the point of the stem, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A bill-file made from a single wire blank recurved one or more times in the same plane to form a supporting-back, and also provided with an eye or loop for suspending the same, said device also comprising a forwardly-extending paper-hook, an upwardly-extending pointed terminal arranged in advance of the supporting-back, a laterally-disposed switch formed by extending the other terminal of the blank to one side of the center then forward and finally bringing its extremity into the proximal plane of the aforesaid terminal, the end of the switch having a recess or socket therein for receiving the point of the file-stem, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

NELSON S. BALDXVIN. ERVIN S. GOODXVIN. \Yitnesses:

O. V. IIAUGE, F. H. FLAXDERS. 

